Is 400Watt PSU enough?

Tim Burton · Post by **Tim Burton** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 12:56 am

I just purchased a DFI MB, with a AMD X2 3800+ Dual Core. I have a eVGA 7800GT GPU, 2 Gigs of RAM, 2 SATA WD 250 Gig HDs (RAID 0) with 16MBs of RAM and a DVD Burner. Can I add 3 more HDs with this PSU? If not, can I at least add two till I get paid a week from Friday?

Thanks for any help you can offer.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that I also have 5 case fans running.

infinitevalence · Post by **infinitevalence** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 3:46 am

not really no... you got some power hungry componants there. with that set up i would suggest no less than 500w and make it a quality 500w.

OCZ, Antec, ThermalTake, Fortron, Enermax, Sparkel, Seasonic, PC&P, Emacs.

Post by **FZ1** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 7:24 am

No, those boards are power hungry, especially if you are OC'ing and with those components you'll want 500+. There is a good list of "approved" PSU's on DFI-street.com -> http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10854

Tim Burton · Post by **Tim Burton** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 5:45 pm

What do you think of this brand?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817148027

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817148008

I am sorta short on funds, so I really can't splurg like I would like.

Antonik · Post by **Antonik** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 6:33 pm

You should've thought of that before getting those componenets. Don't be suprised if u run into power related problems if u build a PC with a PSU like that.

this is the cheapest that shouldn't give you problems
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817103937

if you can pull of 20 more bucks then i'd get this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817103931

and if u want SLI you'll need an even better one. You shouldn't skimp out on a good PSU, since it gives juice to your baby.

Tim Burton · Post by **Tim Burton** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 7:13 pm

Ok, I had asked at another forum and was told 400 would be fine.... Grrrrr.....and I know I have no one to blame, except myself.

kenc51 · Post by **kenc51** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 7:51 pm

You have a very powerfull system, if/when you run both cores @ once (games are supporting dual core as we speak), with that GFX along with all the other system components (HDD's can take upto 20W each @ peak) then a quality 400W PSU would do for STOCK.

If you want the option to overclock even a little, or add more HDD's etc., then you should go for Antonik's first link....antec make good psu's and 500W will stand you good ground....even for your next system.

If you can, pay as much as $100 for a PSU, a very good PSU will last 2-3 systems, peace of mind is also worth it!

gvblake22 · Post by **gvblake22** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 8:48 pm

What are the specs of your current PSU? As kenc said, if you have a quality 400w PSU, it could probably be able to run all that stuff at stock speeds and settings. You have some pretty high end hardware, so it's gonna require a lot of juice.
How is your system running with your current 400w PSU? I read somewhere that a good test could be to power up your system and put it under load (fold at home or prime95) and then open your fastest optical drive and put in a CD and close it and see what happens. They said sometimes if you put oyur ear right next to the fans, you may be able to hear them slow down a little bit as the optical drive spins up if your powersupply is being overtaxed.

Optimally, you would probably want a quality 500w powersupply like any of the ones listed so far. But since you are on a budget, a high quality 400w PSU could work.
But, especially with a cheapo 400wPSU, by overtaxing the PSU, you run the risk of having the PSU jsut quit and possibly taking down the rest of your system with it!

So it is almost like buying insurance when you spend the extra cash on a quality power supply. Would you rather spend an extra $20 now for a better PSU, or thousands of dollars later when you have to replace your components after your cheapo PSU blew up? I'm not saying it will happen (as it's not very common), but it is still possible. When I found that my cheap 350w PSU was not enough to power my socket A Barton system, I was experiencing random shutdowns and reboots during games (heavy load). As soon as I replaced it with a quality 430w Antec PSU, the probelms went away and my overclock improved!

Oh, one last thing you need to consider is that you have PCI-Express components (motherboard and video card) and that needs an ATX 12v 2.0 compliant power supply to function optimally/safely. That means that it has a 24 pin ATX power connector (instead of 20 pin), 6 pin PCI-Express power connectors, and dual 12v rails on the PSU. Any new PSU is going to meet this standard, but if you buy an older power supply you will need to get a 20 to 24 pin adapter as well as a 4 pin molex to 6 pin PCI-Express power adapter. And with all those adapters and underpowered 12v rails, you still run the risk of something going wrong.

So my advice to you is to save up for another month or two and buy a quality 24 pin 500w PSU before you add or upgrade any more components.

killswitch83 · Post by **killswitch83** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 11:15 pm

how's this for quality and price for ya Tim?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817103931

a high-quality Antec, rock-solid stable, enough wattage to handle your components, what more could you want? believe me, for a good quality PSU, this is one of the better prices I have found, though there's other places to look other than Newegg ya know.

edit: I agree with Blake on this one, the PSU is the most important component of any PC IMHO, as if this puppy goes, it can take your mobo and CPU, amongst other things, with it.

gvblake22 · Post by **gvblake22** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 11:39 pm

killswitch83 wrote:how's this for quality and price for ya Tim?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817103931

Already been posted ;)
http://forums.legitreviews.com/post-25087.html#25087

Sorry, couldn't resist

Anyway, yeah, as you can see, the opinions are overwhelmingly supporting a quality, higher wattage PSU...

killswitch83 · Post by **killswitch83** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 11:51 pm

well then, we're of one accord then Blake, lol

Tim Burton · Post by **Tim Burton** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 11:53 pm

What are the specs of your current PSU? As kenc said, if you have a quality 400w PSU, it could probably be able to run all that stuff at stock speeds and settings.

It is an Antec 400W PSU.

Right now, I am running:

CPU
MB
GPU
Sound Card (Audigy)
2 Harddrives and 3 fans.

What I don't have running is:

2 case fans
2 HDs

It is running Ok, but I haven't stressed it. I just purchased the PSU you guys suggested for 85. I'll sell this one for

killswitch83 · Post by **killswitch83** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 11:57 pm

Definitely a good choice Tim.....the dual 12V+ rails will provide plenty of stability, hope you end up liking it man

infinitevalence · Post by **infinitevalence** » Wed Dec 14, 2005 4:08 am

That Antec should be fine for running everythign stock, its alittle on the low site for your setup but it should be ok. I would just keep your eyes on voltages and temps if you OC your CPU and video card.

Dragon_Cooler · Post by **Dragon_Cooler** » Wed Dec 14, 2005 9:14 am

question?!?!?!?!

any of yall have a good recomendation on the coolest running psu ~500W?? My current one is a 420 thermaltake and its ubar hot! I will soon be in the market for a new psu!

Tim Burton · Post by **Tim Burton** » Wed Dec 14, 2005 9:17 am

It's winter....save on the heating costs and keep it till at least May.

kenc51 · Post by **kenc51** » Wed Dec 14, 2005 9:36 am

DragonCooler wrote:question?!?!?!?!

any of yall have a good recomendation on the coolest running psu ~500W?? My current one is a 420 thermaltake and its ubar hot! I will soon be in the market for a new psu!

A cool PSU will need to have high-speed fans normally!
That means more noise
I found the Antec neopower is very cool and quiet, although I think they only go upto 480W
Seasonic make some quiet and quality PSU's....
If your budget can handle it, go for a OCZ Powerstream 520W, they do make more noise than some, but you can't beat their stable voltage rails!!!
I have the 600W version, it actually feels cool to touch, but thats because it has 2x 80mm fans....
Be carefull as some with a single 120mm fan claim to be low-noise but when the case temps go up, when gaming, the fan get very noisey...the fortron blue PSU's get very noisey (but are quality!)

Tim Burton · Post by **Tim Burton** » Wed Dec 14, 2005 8:11 pm

I have my PSU up for sale if anyone wants to look just check out the Legit Trader forum.